LOUDER AND FASTER PAIN, JOY, AND THE BODY POLITIC IN ASIAN AMERICAN TAIKO DEBORAH WONG Luminos is the Open Access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org AMERICAN CROSSROADS Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Sánchez, Dana Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil Pal Singh Louder and Faster Louder and Faster Pain, Joy, and the Body Politic in Asian American Taiko Deborah Wong UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2019 by Deborah Wong This work is licensed under a Creative Commons [CC-BY-NC-ND] license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Suggested citation: Wong, D. Louder and Faster: Pain, Joy, and the Body Politic in Asian American Taiko. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.71 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wong, Deborah Anne, author. Title: Louder and faster : pain, joy, and the body politic in Asian American taiko / Deborah Wong. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] | Series: American crossroads ; 55 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons [CC-BY-NC-ND] license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses | Identifiers: LCCN 2018058632 (print) | LCCN 2019000209 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520973152 () | ISBN 9780520304529 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Taiko (Drum ensemble)--United States--History. | Asian American musicians. | Japanese American musicians. Classification: LCC ML1038.T35 (ebook) | LCC ML1038.T35 W66 2019 (print) | DDC 786.9089/956073--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018058632 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For the first generation of North American taiko players and teachers, with gratitude for your vision and ki. For Rev. Shuichi (Tom) Kurai (1947–2018). For my mother, Jean Carol Huffman Wong (1933–2018), who was always ready to go to a taiko gig. here right here we found our voices made our moves body and spirit we took a great leap in this space taiko claimed rhythms on this floor we passed a century and the beat goes on reaching high with our fingertips we feel freedom in limitless space— we slide, we fall in this place we fly on this floor our roots are deep women hold up half the sky —genie nakano, “women hold up half the sky” People cannot create what they cannot imagine. Expressive culture is often a realm where new social relations can be rehearsed culturally before they can be implemented socially. —george lipsitz, “a new beginning” vii Contents List of Figures xiii List of Video and Audio Examples xv Introduction 1 What taiko is and what it could become 4 (Pre)Histories 7 Taiko in critical perspective 14 Multimedia ethnomusicology 20 Transition: Don 25 1. Looking, Listening, and Moving 29 Music as a problem 29 Analyzing “Aranami” 31 Looking #1 42 Pictures that move 43 How I don’t want to look at taiko 46 Looking #2: Why it’s hard to photograph Japanese Americans 47 Three ways of looking at taiko 48 Moving: This is how these moments come together 51 Moving through the image 53 2. Inventories: The Material Culture of Taiko 54 What’s in my bag 54 ix x Contents Things 55 From my journal, June 8, 2003 59 An inventory of the taiko owned by Rev. Tom Kurai 60 Made in the US? 64 Clothing makes the taiko player 66 What, where, and why things matter 72 Transition: She Dances on a Taiko 73 3. Dancing the Body Politic 75 The body politic 75 Getting ready to dance 78 Making a Buddhist tradition 81 Taiko and bon-odori 85 Ruptures 87 “Bon-Odori Uta” 92 Bon-odori as pilgrimage 94 “Tanko Bushi” 97 Creating new bon-odori 99 It’s YOUR song! 101 Dancing without end 103 Transition: Unison and Circles 105 4. Good Gigs, Bad Gigs: Drumming between Hope and Anger 107 Pilgrims at Manzanar 109 Following the Dragon Boats 114 5. Taiko, Erotics, and Anger 118 Playing 118 Pleasure 120 Gendered pleasure in taiko 121 Glamorous women and transnational femininity 127 Honō Daiko and the samurai body 130 Satori Daiko’s women back at home 134 Asian American masculinity and martial arts 136 He’s Hung 137 Taiko is our Bruce Lee 138 Brother Bruce was on my wall 141 Contents xi Japanese hypermasculinity 144 Baring it all for taiko 148 Transition: From My Journal—Learning and Playing “Miyake,” May 8, 2006 155 6. Pain and the Body Politic: Taiko Players Talk about Blisters and More 159 Self-examination 160 Locating the body politic 161 Failing at form 162 Talking about pain 164 Japanese → Japanese American pain 169 7. Cruising the Pac Rim: Driven to Thrill 173 Transnationalism and globalization 177 First pass: race, gender, and sex 179 The Mitsubishi Eclipse 182 Racing cars and racialization 186 J-cool 188 Participation, accountability, disclosures, foreclosures, interventions, guilt 192 Taiko in the Pacific Rim theater 196 Transition: How to Leave a Taiko Group 199 Conclusion: Core Values 203 Notes 209 Acknowledgments 229 Glossary 233 References 243 American Crossroads 259 Index 263 Figures Figures are hosted at http://wonglouderandfaster.com. 1. Rev. Tom Kurai 2. Rev. Tom Kurai’s mnemonic notation for “Aranami” 3. Taiko Center of Los Angeles members playing “Amano,” 1998 4. Audrey Nakasone airborne 5. The author’s Taiko Center of Los Angeles bag 6. The author’s Miyamoto bachi 7. Taiko in the storeroom at Sozenji Buddhist Temple 8. Wall of taiko groups’ T-shirts, Big Drum exhibit installation, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, 2005 9. Emma Valentine’s taiko T-shirts 10. The parking lot at Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, looking toward the temple 11. The same parking lot, looking out toward Vignes Street 12. The author’s drink ticket from Obon at Hompa Hongwanji Betsuin, Los Angeles, July 2015 13. T-shirt sold by Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple to fund the Venice Fu- jinkai Buddhist Women’s Association 14. Annie Chuck and Rip Rense at Senshin Buddhist Temple’s Obon, June 27, 2015 15. The author’s dance fan (uchiwa) from a trip to Japan with Satori Daiko 16. The author’s kachi kachi, made by George Abe and bought at Senshin Bud- dhist Temple 17. Page from Senshin Buddhist Temple’s monthly newsletter xiii xiv FIGURES 18. George Abe playing bon daiko at Higashi Hongwanji on the yagura 19. Manzanar Pilgrimage ondo, 1970s 20. Bon-odori in a Manzanar Pilgrimage, 1970s 21. Schematic drawings for “Tanko Bushi” 22. Bon-odori fans etched into a crosswalk in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles 23. Home Is Little Tokyo mural, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles 24. Rev. Tom Kurai playing odaiko for the ondo at the 1975 Manzanar Pilgrimage, with the pilgrimage organizer Sue Embrey dancing in the right foreground 25. Dragon Boat Festival program 26. Linda Lea movie theater in downtown Los Angeles, 2004 27. Tom Kurai and Kenny Endo playing taiko at the 1975 Manzanar Pilgrimage 28. Karen Young wearing a “We Play for Unity” T-shirt, 2017 29. The author editing with colleagues at her elbow Examples Examples are hosted at http://wonglouderandfaster.com. Video 1. Montage of Gary St. Germain’s photos 2. Montage of Gary St. Germain’s photos of Satori Daiko 3. Montage of Obon and bon-odori at Gardena Buddhist Church, August 4, 2007 4. Beverly Murata showing the contents of her gear bag 5. Satori Daiko members packing the van for a performance at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, August 22, 2007 6. Closing circle 7. Stop-action of the author’s T-shirt collection 8. Bon-odori in Tsubetsu, Hokkaido, 2003 9. Michelle Fujii, Walter Clarke, and Kris Bergstrom teaching “Korekara” at the Southeast Japanese School and Community Center in Norwalk, California, 2005 10. Michelle Fujii teaching the “Korekara” dance to taiko players at the Southeast Japanese School and Community Center in Norwalk, California, 2005 11. “Korekara” debut at the North American Taiko Conference in Los Angeles, July 15, 2005 12. Rev. Tom Kurai and members of Satori Daiko discussing and volunteering for upcoming performances, August 2007 13. Satori Daiko playing “Aranami” at the Manzanar Pilgrimage xv xvi Video and Audio Examples 14. Satori Daiko workshop with members of Honō Daiko 15. Q&A between Akemi Jige and Satori Daiko 16. Triangle Taiko performing “Miyake” Audio 1. “Aranami” 2. Interview with Shirley Gutierrez and Beverly Murata about taiko and pain, February 22, 2007 Introduction Taiko is an invented tradition that has traveled far beyond its originating com- munities. Many kinds of people play it, mostly as a First World amateur recreation activity. For some Asian Americans, however, taiko is an important alternative academy, a repository of collective memory, and a third space—a public sphere where potential forms of social justice are acted out in plain sight.1 As I write this in 2015, it is the day of the annual Obon at Senshin Buddhist Tem- ple.